In foundry ladles, which are used to transfer iron and steel from the melting furnace to the mold(s), heat loss from the molten metal through the ladle lining is a major problem. This is especially true in ladles that have a small "volume to surface area" ratio. Increasing the lining thickness and adding more insulation at the ladle shell is generally not practical because of their already small diameter. Another problem is the removal of solidified slag and metal which adheres strongly to the ladle lining after each mold-pouring operation. These remnant materials must be thoroughly removed to prevent contamination of the next batch of liquid metal. One method of lining foundry ladles is to use tundish boards, but these boards have clear disadvantages such as prolonged installation time, joints between the boards, and difficulty forming a thicker slagline zone. U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,107 describes in detail the use of tundish boards as lining materials in foundry ladles. A need exists to eliminate the current problems associated with lining ladles.
Efforts to utilize refractory linings which can be applied by spraying, trowelling, gunning, and the like have not been successful since they have contained materials which act to contaminate the iron and steel, such as resinous binders and oxidizers such as Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3. Such a lining for tundishes is shown in Canadian Patent No. 1,119,622.